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// Story: 80 Days: Under the Waves 
// by Sharp Spark 
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“What is this stone?” I asked.

“A relic from the Upper Currents,” she said, bowing her head momentarily at the words.

“Upper Currents?”

She glanced up to the ceiling. “Here, we swim and hunt in the Lower Currents, in this sea below. Yet one day all of us, from mighty warrior to smallest child, will see our body grow Still. The spirit moves onwards, passing higher and higher, through the great Expanse, the void which you dryponies scrabble at the bottom edge of. And then, the spirit reaches the beyond, living anew as a light among the dark depths of the Upper Currents.”

Realization dawned. “You mean the sky. The stars. Like how some ponies believe the soul goes to the Elysian Fields after death.”

“Perhaps.” Her hoof reached out to gently tap at the stone. “But, as you see, our destination is quite real.”

I had heard of starstones falling from the night sky, blazing trails as they passed. Yet, ever since the Ruler of the Night had been banished from her duties regulating the stars, such occurrences were rare and unpredictable. As the priestess watched me with narrowed eyes, however, I felt no need to argue theology.

“Can you tell me about your faith?” I inquired...
“I hadn’t expected to see such a shrine in your city,” I said...
“I must be going,” I explained...